


The Serpent and the Lion

by hogwarts_is_frozen



Category: Frozen (Disney Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Exolvo, Family Drama, Gryffindor!Anna, Kristanna, Multi, Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter), Original Character(s), Slytherin!Elsa, frozen, snow sisters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:00:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25236571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hogwarts_is_frozen/pseuds/hogwarts_is_frozen
Summary: After meeting her boggart two years ago Elsa has all but locked herself away from the world. Now in her 5th year Elsa is more cold and distant then ever and Anna fears she may never get her back. But will Elsa be able to keep her wandless magic a secret now that Hogwarts has been taken over by possibly the most horrible woman ever to walk the halls.
Relationships: Anna/Kristoff (Disney), Cho Chang/Harry Potter, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story written off the Harry Potter AU 'exolvo' created on tumblr. To make the story flow a little better Anna is only a year younger than Elsa.

_"Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folks use any means_

_To achieve their ends"_

The lesson started off normal enough.

As usual, Elsa was early for class and took her seat along with a few classmates who had also decided to beat the rush of students that inevitably arrived at sound of the bell.

As she waited for her small group of friends to join her, Elsa took out her notes for today's Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. They had been discussing defensive charms that robbed one's attacker of his voice. And after practicing with her fellow Slytherins the other night she had been able to successfully reduce Selina Moore's voice to a mere whisper.

Classes resumed and the room became a sea of blue and green, as Slytherins and Ravenclaws alike took their seats.

Once everyone had arrived Professor Lupin called for silence and informed them they would not need their books for today's lesson, only their wands. And asking that the desks be pushed against the wall he pulled a very large, very old-looking wardrobe to the center of the room.

Elsa had long ago decided she liked Professor Lupin much better than that giggling buffoon Lockhart. Now her Slytherins were actually learning how to protect themselves, not which hair products would give you that extra shine. However, there was something about their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher that gave Elsa pause. It was his eyes; she couldn't quite decide what is was but she saw something familiar in them that made her fingers itch.

Elsa stood at the edge of the group and listened as Professor Lupin directed their attention to the now rattling wardrobe. As the curious students craned their necks to get a better look Lupin began to describe the type of creature that lurked inside. The longer he talked the more panicked Elsa became.

"… shape-shifter… whatever you fear most…"

_No. No. No. No. No._

When Elsa felt the tingling under her fingernails she instinctively pulled her gloves on tighter.

_Conceal it, don't feel it._

"Hey Elsa are you okay? You look a little pale?" It was Tablitha Wilkins, one of the first few friends the blonde had made during her first year at Hogwarts.

Elsa blinked at her a few times to compose herself and swallowed. "I- I'm fine. Just a little nervous I guess."

"Yea me too," Tabitha said nodding and turning back to the front of the class. "But it's also kind of exciting don't you think? I wonder what it will turn into for me."

Elsa didn't answer her friend; she was too busy trying not to start hyperventilating. The blonde wasn't like the other students; she didn't need this boggart thing to tell her what she feared most. Elsa knew what she would see.

Anna. Her little sister, lying frozen on the floor. And this time there would be no healers at St. Mungo's to bring her back.

Even though it had been years since the incident, that night haunted Elsa every single day of her life since and fueled almost every one of her actions. It was why she almost never went home for holidays, it was why she wore gloves every waking moment, and it was even part of the reason she was in Slytherin house.

The moment Elsa had gotten her letter to Hogwarts she had been so relieved. Finally, a chance to escape the guilt that consumed her whenever she saw the unbearable hurt that flashed across Anna's face each time the blonde pushed her away. But she also knew that it wouldn't last. It was only a matter of time before Anna got her own letter, and Elsa knew without a doubt that her younger sibling would be sorted into Gryffindor. Even if you only knew Anna for a few moments you would know that was where she belonged. And it was with that in mind that Elsa asked - no - begged the sorting hat to put her in Slytherin. The young witch didn't care that it thought she could be well suited for Ravenclaw; it was well known that those from Slytherin and those from Gryffindor did not interact, and that was all the convincing she needed.

She would do whatever it took to stay away from her little sister, the person she loved most. To make certain the event of that night never happened again. And if that meant Anna thought she hated her, so be it.

The temperature in the room dropped ever so slightly. And so, while everyone else listened intently to Professor Lupin's lecture, Elsa was fighting to remain calm and quell the frost that threatened to break free of the seal her bewitched gloves provided.

_It's okay, they will just assume I'm afraid of loosing a family member not that I'm afraid I'll be the one that kills her._

The room grew colder. One of the girls rubbed her arms.

_The spell must be wearing off, I need to go see Dumbledore. Conceal, don't feel_.

Slowly, Elsa reigned herself in and felt the warmth seep back into the room. Still chanting her personal mantra, she felt her breathing even out and no longer felt the need to bolt out of the room. Looking around quickly she was relieved to see that no one had noticed how close she had come to coming undone.

Her heart still pounding furiously in her chest, Elsa tried to focus on whatever Professor Lupin was saying about the different theories regarding the true form of a boggart and how to properly disarm it.

After a quick lesson on the annunciation of the defensive incantation and proper wand movement, Professor Lupin asked the students to form a line in front of the large piece of furniture.

The class surged forward, everyone vying to get to the front; curious to see what it was they were most afraid of. Somehow in all that chaos, Elsa found herself at the center of the long line, sandwiched between her friend Tabitha and some Ravenclaw that looked about as thrilled about the idea of meeting his worst fear as she did.

The first student to step forward was a boy from her own house whom she had tutored a few times in Transfiguration. At Professor Lupin's instruction he stood at the ready, wand raised and staring straight at the handle that slowly began to turn. The door of the wardrobe flew open and out ran a dog that Elsa could have sworn was the size of small bear. It was barking and snarling at the boy who was now backing away in terror with each flash of long, white teeth.

It was then that Elsa finally understood where he'd gotten the scar on his forearm.

For a second the witch forgot her fear as a wave of protectiveness washed over her. Elsa was very defensive of the other students in her house; it was one of the reasons she was so well known throughout the school. They may call her the Ice Queen, but they also knew that if you were going to poke fun at a Slytherin you'd better be willing to face Elsa as well. She was about run forward when Lupin's voice stopped her.

"Come on now William, concentrate. Be stronger than the fear, don't let it consume you. Turn it back in on itself. Laugh in its face," he said fiercely.

The Slytherin boy nodded and raised his wand shakily. "Riddikulus!" he shouted. There was a small pop and the large dog became a tiny, shaking thing in a pink sweater. The class howled with laughter and William smiled.

Elsa radiated pride as she heard the Professor yell, "Excellent! Excellent William! Next!"

The line shuffled forward and another student took the boy's place.

Up next was girl in Ravenclaw who's worst fear was a man wearing a mask and covered in blood charging at her with a knife. Then another Ravenclaw for whom the boggart changed into a swarm of stinging bugs that flew around her face buzzing loudly and threatening to bite her.

When a girl from Slytherin broke down at the sight of her parents screaming at her for being a disappointment Elsa became hopeful that Lupin would end the lesson early. He didn't. And with each student that moved forward the more terrified she became at the thought of seeing her sister's dead body in front of her. How on earth could she make that funny?

_I can't do this. I won't be able to control it._

But she thought about what Professor Lupin had said to William. About not letting the emotions consume him, being stronger than the fear, and before she could react, Elsa was at the front of the line.

She hadn't even seen it change shape. One second it was a toy snake, the next it was…

Elsa turned to her Professor who wore an expression of equal parts confusion and concern. "I- I don't understand. I'm not afraid of mirrors," she said, lowering her wand.

"I'm not a mirror, Elsa."

The girl spun around so fast she almost collided with her reflection. No, not reflection.

Her.

Time seemed to grind to a halt as Elsa stared in horror at her twin. Blood pounded in her ears and her breaths came in short gasps as her entire body began to tremble violently. Cerulean eyes stared back at her and a small smirk pulled at her- it's lips, as if it knew exactly what Elsa had done, what she was capable of.

She felt the world tip dangerously to one side as the reality of what was happening set in; her worst fear wasn't killing Anna, the thing that she feared most… was herself.

Behind her, people began to whisper.

"She is afraid of herself?"

"What did she do? Is she like a criminal or something?"

"Who is afraid of themselves? She must have done something horrible."

Then she heard someone scoff loudly at the back of the room. "What the hell did you do Arendelle? Kill someone?"

She went still. Her gloves grew stiff with frost.

"Shut up, Draco!" Snapped a voice.

"Quiet!" Yelled another - Lupin possibly - she couldn't hear much over her own thundering pulse. "Elsa?" The voice called softly. Definitely the Professor.

He reached out to Elsa, hoping to capture her attention long enough to get between her and the boggart. However, just as he was about to touch her shoulder - which seemed to be radiating cold air - the boggart mouthed something to the girl. He didn't see what it was but it seemed enough to push Elsa over the edge. She tore out of the room so fast mumbling something over and over that he barely had time to react.

"Elsa!" he called, but she was gone.

xxxx

Elsa ran as fast as her legs would allow, lungs burning and tears streaming down her face. She only came to a stop when she'd reached a large hill overlooking the castle. No one ever came out there since it was so far away from the school, making it the only place Elsa felt safe enough to practice her wandless magic. She'd spend hours making small flurries and constructing objects from her ice.

But today was not a day of freedom, today was a day of hiding. Just like she always did. She was coward; too afraid to face her classmates, too ashamed to look her own sister in the eye, and too stupid to think she could run from it all.

Lying crumpled at the base of a large oak tree Elsa hugged herself tightly and wept. She didn't bother holding back her ice, letting it roam free as frost climbed the old oak's trunk like a crackling, hissing vine. Arctic winds howled around the young girl as sharp snowflakes bit at her skin, but she ignored all of it.

All she could do was picture the boggart version of herself ginning at her with such cruelty in its eyes it made Elsa want to fall through a hole in the floor just to escape it. How it had mouthed the one thing it knew would shatter all of Elsa's carefully placed defenses, tearing them down and stripping her bare. The scene replayed over and over again until it was seared into her mind like a brand. She watched an endless loop of her own lips caressing that soundless word like a newfound lover until it was all she knew, all she cared about.

_Monster._


	2. Hogwarts Express

Elsa craned her neck as she scanned the platform, with a fair bit of difficulty, for any sign of her sister. However, she couldn’t see much over the many heads that filled the tightly packed train station. It was the beginning of a new term at Hogwarts and as usual platform 9¾ was teaming with nervous and excited students shouting over one another as friends greeted each other and parents said their goodbyes.

Elsa had come on her own, having said goodbye to her godmother, Gerda and godfather, Kai before traveling via Floo Powder to the station, but not before Gerda asked her to make sure her sister boarded the train all right. The younger girl had spent the tail end of her summer holidays with her friend, Ginny Weasley. It was for this reason Elsa was frantically searching for a glimpse of twin red braids streaked with white.

Although the girl has sent an owl saying that she would be arriving with the Weasley family Elsa still needed to see Anna before she could board the Hogwarts Express, and not just because Gerda had asked her to. Elsa had somewhat of a… compulsion when it came to her sibling, always carrying this constant driving need to remind herself that the was girl whole and healthy. It had been like this since Elsa was 8 years old.

The blonde could feel herself growing more and more anxious the closer it got to 11 o’clock. She sighed in relief however when a sea of red hair flooded through the barrier. At the head of the group, talk animatedly next to girl with wild brown hair was her little sister Anna.

Elsa watched the younger girl for a time and frowned sadly when she saw just how well Anna fit in with the large family; cheerful, outgoing, red hair. People mistook her for a Weasley almost as much as they mistook Elsa for a Malfoy. Her frown faded into a smile the longer she observed the girl, although she would never admit it, Elsa had really missed having Anna around their house rambling about one thing or another and filling the empty halls with her laughter.

She hadn’t realized she’d been staring until the brown haired girl - who Elsa now recognized as Hermione Granger from her year – saw Elsa and pointed her out to Anna. The blonde felt a pang of guilt as Anna’s face lit up when she caught sight of her older sister; behind her, her friend Ginny scowled. Afraid the girl might run over and perhaps try her luck at giving Elsa a hug, the blonde simply gave her a tight-lipped smile that felt more like a grimace and hurried to board the train.

Releasing the breath she didn’t know she had been holding Elsa began searching for an empty compartment before she caught herself. She raised a single gloved hand to run her fingers over the badge pinned to her chest. It featured a silver serpent on a field of green, coiled around a large letter P, she had been made a prefect of Slytherin house. The young witch supposed it made sense, she had top grades in all her classes, kept her head down staying out of trouble, and everyone knew Elsa has a strange gift for getting the other Slytherins to listen to her.

The letter had said that at the start of the trip she was to report to the heads of house in the first car to find out what exactly was her new position entailed and meet the other prefects. As the blonde made her way to the front of the train she wondered who the other Slytherin prefect would be. She didn’t have to wait long.

“Well look who it is!” called a voice behind her.

Elsa sighed heavily and closed her eyes hoping she was mistaken. “What do you want Draco?” Elsa asked, already irritated.

“Now, now Arendelle, is that anyway to speak to the new Slytherin prefect?” Malfoy sneered. His eyes flicked down to the badge on her chest and his lip curled. “I see they’re letting blood traitors wear the badge now,” he said haughtily.

“Don’t you have some innocent first years to bully,” Elsa asked praying he would get bored and leave her alone. She was actually surprised he was bothering her at all, ever since the incident with the boggart Draco had kept his distance, convinced anyone who was afraid of themselves had to be dangerous – he wasn’t wrong. Being made prefect must have given him a false sense of security.

“You know,” Draco said thoughtfully. “Now that I am a prefect I will need to keep my eye on _all_ the lower years. And I’m sure your sister will need regular discipline seeing as she was dimwitted enough to go and get herself associated with that Weasley lot,” he said, a cruel grin plastered on his face.

Elsa’s temper flared and her palms began to itch. “Watch yourself, Draco,” she snarled, her voice low and dangerous. She felt a grim sort of satisfaction when she saw a flicker of fear in his eyes.

Before he could taunt her further, Joshua Mackenzie – Ravenclaw’s head boy – popped his head out of the compartment just ahead of them, rolling his eyes when he saw them bickering. “Malfoy, Elsa, get a move on will you. I would like to get this over with _before_ we reach the school,” he said.

Throwing Elsa one last look of contempt, Malfoy followed Joshua inside, Elsa trailing reluctantly behind him.

\---

“Are you okay Anna?” Ginny asked. “You have been really quiet, which is pretty concerning for someone who talks as much as you do,” she said smiling.

Anna turned around to face her friend. She had been staring out the window since they sat down, watching the landscape change from the bustling city of London to lush, green countryside. “Yeah I’m fine,” she replied unconvincingly as she forced a small smile on her lips.

“Is it because of your sister?” Harry asked across from her, happy to have something to distract him from the memory of Cho Chang walking in on him covered in stinksap.

Anna seemed to deflate a little and shrugged.

“Well I don’t know why you bother getting all worked up over her,” Ginny said scathingly, popping a chocolate frog into her mouth. Ginny had long ago decided she didn’t like Elsa once she saw how the blonde treated her sister; family was very important to the girl. “She doesn’t seem to give much thought to your feelings.”

Anna was torn, she didn’t know whether to defend Elsa or agree with Ginny. It seemed no matter what she did Elsa continued to act like Anna was a nuisance and so avoided her.

It hadn’t always been this way, once upon a time the girls had been inseparable, never one without the other. But one day Elsa seemed to decide she no longer liked Anna and wanted nothing more to do with her.

When their parents died Anna thought the tragedy might somehow bring them back together, but she was wrong. The blonde hadn’t even bothered to show up for the funeral, leaving Anna to bury their parents, alone. That day she had stormed up to Elsa’s room in a rage, ready to demand Elsa come out, demand that she explain what Anna had done to deserve this cruelty. However, when she had heard the quiet sobs coming from the other side of the door all of her anger dissolved away. Instead, the girl collapsed under the weight of her grief and wept alongside her sister. She remembered crying herself to sleep in front of Elsa’s bedroom door, only to find herself back in her own bed the following morning.

And just when Anna thought things between them couldn’t possibly get any worse Elsa returned home from her third year at Hogwarts unable to even glance in Anna’s general direction. It was like she didn’t even exist. She’d barely said two words to anyone before she barricaded herself in her room and refused to come out. Anna remembered walking in on her godmother sobbing in their kitchen. Elsa had stopped eating and Anna overheard her tell Kai that she feared Elsa might try and harm herself.

When she finally did emerge at the end of the summer her first words weren’t _I’m sorry_ or _I’m okay_ , they weren’t even an explanation for her self-inflicted isolation, instead she simply said ‘I need new gloves’. Anna had been absolutely beside herself, how dare she put her family through this hell, how could anyone be this selfish. She would have slapped the girl if Elsa hadn’t looked like she might break in half if she did. The blonde had looked horrible; practically skin and bone with dark circles under her sunken eyes as if she hadn’t slept in months. However, the thing that had frightened Anna most were her eyes, they had been clouded over and devoid of life, so that when Gerda began shouting at her Elsa simply stared at the floor utterly emotionless. It was a long time before she got better.

“I don’t think that’s true,” said a dreamy voice coming from the blonde on Anna’s right. Everyone turned to look at Luna Lovegood as she emerged from behind the upside down magazine in her hands.

“What?” Anna asked, thoroughly confused.

“What she said about your sister. I think she cares a lot about your feelings,” the girl said casually, as though she has just commented on the state of the weather.

Ginny scoffed. “Well she has a funny way of showing it.”

Anna ignored her. She was staring at Luna with her mouth hanging slightly open in shock. “How do you know?” Anna asked wistfully, but was still a little suspicious. Anna had spoken to Luna only a handful of times, and now she was talking as if she knew Elsa better than Anna did.

“She told me so,” Luna said vaguely, shocking everyone into stunned silence, but none more so than Anna.

“Wait, what!” she exclaimed, her mind reeling from this new information. “What do you mean she told you? You talk to Elsa?” Anna didn’t know whether to be excited or furious.

“Yes,” Luna said, now lazily fiddling with the Butterbeer corks hanging around her neck.

“And she told you she cares about Anna even though she treats her dreadfully?” asked an unconvinced Ginny.

“Not in so many words really. More in the way she dresses,” Luna responded before disappearing behind her copy of the Quibbler again and falling silent.

“What was that supposed to mean?” Neville whispered to Harry who shrugged and shook his head, just as confused as he was.

Anna was about to rip aside the girl’s magazine and order her to explain what she had meant when the compartment door slid open. Ron and Hermione had returned from their meeting.

Unsurprisingly Ron immediately dove into the subject of food, claiming he soon might perish of starvation. Anna was giggling at his theatrics when Hermione began to list off the other prefects.

“There is one boy and one girl from each house,” she explained. “Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott for Hufflepuff, Anthony Goldstien and Padama Patil for Ravenclaw…”

“Give you one guess for who got picked for Slytherin,” Ron said leaning back in his seat and biting the head off a chocolate frog.

“Malfoy,” they answered all at once. Ron nodded.

“Who… who’s the girl prefect for Slytherin?” Anna asked hesitantly, even though she was pretty sure she already knew the answer.

Ron and Hermione looked at each other and Anna sighed. “It’s Elsa isn’t it?” she said softly.

“Yes,” Hermione replied gently.

“Didn’t she tell you?” Ron asked. Hermione and Ginny both shot him a look. “What? I was only asking a question,” he said defensively.

“No, she didn’t tell me,” Anna said, looking sad.

“Maybe she just didn’t get a chance to send an owl,” Neville said hopefully. “You would have been with Ginny when she got her letter right?”

Anna’s face brightened. “Hey you’re right! Yea that’s it, she couldn’t get a letter to me in time. Yea that’s got to be it,” she said cheerfully, closing her eyes and letting her head fall back.

Everyone shared a look, Elsa’d had plenty of time to write Anna between receiving her badge and now.

Anna heard the compartment door open again and looked around to find Malfoy grinning maliciously down at Harry and his friends. As per usual he and Harry performed their annual train ride snarling match. It wasn’t until Anna told the blond to bugger off that he turned his attention to her.

“Temper, temper Weasley-wannabe. Don’t think that since your sister is a prefect now the rules no longer apply to you anymore. Just because _she_ ignores you doesn’t mean I will,” he sneered.

Anna looked like she had been struck.

“Draco!” called a soft, yet stern voice, as if the speaker didn’t need to raise their voice to get their point across. Everyone froze and Malfoy glowered in the speaker’s direction. “Can’t you go five minutes without harassing someone?” the voice asked as though addressing a naughty child. They listened as clicking footfalls approached the boy.

Suddenly Elsa came into view, already dressed in her robes, hair pulled back in a severe bun, and gloved hands crossed firmly across her chest. Anna watched as Malfoy quickly glanced at the wand tucked firmly in the pocket of Elsa’s robes and his frown deepened.

“Mind your own business, Arendelle. I’m just reminding them that in my new position I now have the power to…” Elsa cut him off rolling her eyes.

“You’re a prefect Draco, not the new headmaster. Now why don’t you go and actually _patrol_ the train,” the young witch said, sounding bored.

Draco bristled at her tone but kept his mouth shut. Gesturing to Crabe and Goyle he stalked away muttering under his breath.

Elsa rubbed her eyes. “Sorry about him. Honestly, he might actually be the sole reason everyone dislikes our house so much,” she said tiredly. Her look of exasperated amusement died however when she realized who she was talking to.

They were all gawking at her as if she had just performed some sort of miracle by getting Malfoy to do something he didn’t want to do. The boys and Hermione each mumbled a small thank you, Luna remained absorbed in whatever article she was reading, while Ginny narrowed her eyes at the girl. Anna however, was looking up at Elsa expectantly.

“Hi.”

Anna jerked back in surprise when she realized Elsa had actually just spoken to her. “Oh, um… hi,” Anna responded shyly, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Around them the others shifted uncomfortably.

“Did you – er – have a good summer?” Elsa asked, playing nervously with her wand.

That was all it took to launch Anna into a full-fledged ramble about how much fun she’d had at Quidditch camp before she’d gone to visit Ginny and her family. Harry, Ron, Neville, Ginny, and even Luna were now watching the girl gesture wildly as she relayed the tale of how she’d narrowly escaped getting knocked off her broom by an enraged bird that attacked her for getting too close to its nest. Hermione however, was watching Elsa closely out of the corner of her eye and was the only person who managed to glimpse the look of longing and affection that lit up her delicate features as she listened to her sister speak. You could almost see the love practically radiating off her.

But it disappeared as quickly as it had come when Anna stood up and began moving towards the blonde. Fear flashed in Elsa’s eyes as Anna approached and she went stiff. “I heard you made prefect! That is so great, I bet Gerda freaked out when she saw.” Anna giggled at the mental image.

“I- I have to go,” Elsa said quickly, backing away. Her eyes were now twice their normal size.

“Okay, but before you do I want to show you something,” Anna said and in her excitement reached out to take Elsa’s hand, but the woman wrenched her arm away before she got the chance.

“Don’t touch me!” Elsa yelped clutching her hands to her chest. The girl felt her breath hitch when she saw Anna’s hurt expression.

“I’m sorry,” Anna said, her voice small.

Elsa felt a wave of shame crash over her when Anna’s eyes filled with tears. Unable to think of anything that might rectify the tense situation she’d created, Elsa simply sighed sadly and walked away. Anna’s shoulders slumped as she watched her sister’s retreating form.

The blonde hurried to find an empty compartment, blinking back her own tears and unconsciously running her fingers over the raised bit of her shirt where pendant of her necklace sat.

\---

Ginny sat down angrily having just slammed the compartment door closed after Elsa’s sudden departure. “I can’t believe her,” she said fuming. “Who treats their _sister_ like that?”

No one answered her; they were all too preoccupied with watching Anna sympathetically. She was hunched forward in her seat with her eyes trained firmly on the hands folded in her lap.

“No,” Anna said after a while. “It was my fault. She doesn’t like to be touched, I know that,” she said quietly. There were three very important rules when it came to Elsa; do not under any circumstances ask her to remove her gloves, do not bring up her third year, and do not touch her without explicit permission. Which was why Anna was internally kicking herself for being so stupid… she had just gotten so excited.

“Stop making excuses for her Anna. You did nothing to deserve that,” Ginny said sharply. The others nodded in agreement – Hermione remained thoughtful.

Anna tried her best to look comforted before turning back to the now dark window.

Once they had reached Hogsmead station Anna was feeling much better. The sting of rejection had dulled enough that she felt herself become giddy with excitement at the thought of seeing the castle again. Grabbing her trunk and Olaf – the excitable little barn owl Gerda had given Anna that year for her birthday – she followed her friends to join the herd of students that filled the platform.

When Harry pointed out that Hagrid was missing she was a little disappointed, he was one of her favourite teachers. She wondered if that meant the cute Ravenclaw boy that worked for him wouldn't be around anymore.

"Hurry up I want to find an empty carriage this year. Last time we had to share with Samantha Grood and she never stops talking," Anna said as she skipped ahead.

Ginny smiled, happy that her friend seemed to have recovered from the run in with her sister. The youngest Weasley had become very protective of the girl since they first became friends, taking Anna under her wing and showing her what being a family really meant. "Yea it would be awful if we had to ride with someone who talks a lot," Ginny replied sarcastically, earning her a raspberry.”

As Anna made her way over to an empty carriage she looked over to see her sister helping some third-years haul their luggage onto a nearby coach. She couldn’t tell for certain but Elsa’s eyes looked red and puffy, like she had been crying. Anna was so preoccupied with trying to get a better look at Elsa she wasn’t paying attention to where she was going and almost walked right into Ron.

He didn’t seem to realize he’d narrowly avoided a head on collision however, due to the fact he was staring at Harry as though he had two heads.

“Can’t you see what’s pulling them?” Harry asked sounding a little worried.

Anna looked back and forth between the two boys. “See what?”

“Those horse things pulling the carriages. Can’t you see them?” Harry responded now getting frustrated. Anna looked over at Ron who appeared to be just as alarmed as she was.

“Are you feeling alright, Harry?” Ron asked uncertainly. Anna just blinked at him, unsure of how to respond.

“I… yeah…”

“We should probably get in before someone steals our seats,” Anna said slowly, gesturing behind her.

“Yeah,” Harry said. “You guys go on.”

Anna and Ron gave him one last concerned look before turning to board the carriage. However, all unease Anna had regarding Harry and his hallucinations were quickly banished when Hogwarts castle came into view. She had returned to the place where she truly felt she belonged.


	3. Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just want to mention that most if not all of the dialogue from Dumbledore and Umbridge does not belong to me.

The starless black ceiling mirrored Elsa’s mood as she pushed through the swarm of students that filled the Great Hall. Searching for a seat at the long Slytherin table she caught sight of Malfoy showing off his new badge to anyone within a ten-foot radius, turning it so that it reflected the light of a nearby floating candle. Elsa couldn’t bring herself to care; she was too busy pushing down the tears that threatened to spill at any moment.

While supervising the other students boarding the carriages she’d noticed a few first-years hanging back, whispering and glancing in her general direction. Assuming they were just trying to work up the courage to ask her where they were supposed to go she’d moved closer, but stopped dead in her tracks when she realized they were talking about her.

“- my sister told me about her.”

“I heard she’s this crazy psychopath with like two personalities and one of them killed her parents. That’s why she always wears gloves, cause of the blood stains.”

“No you idiot she has an evil twin who got locked up in Azkaban, my cousin told me.”

It had felt like someone had punched her in the gut, knocking the wind out of her.

And they weren’t the only ones discussing what had transpired two years ago, she suddenly noticed all the other groups of students whispering as she passed and pointed her out to their friends. Clearly her classmates hadn’t kept the incident to themselves. Even the other Slytherins gave her funny looks.

She couldn’t really blame them; it was common knowledge that Elsa had completely isolated herself from other people last year, returning from her summer vacation haggard and mute. She remembered feeling like she was moving in slow motion; it was like she was constantly trudging through a thick fog. Talking to people had become such a struggle that she gave up on the activity altogether, and things that used to bring her joy no longer interested her. Reading became difficult, learning seemed pointless, and she always seemed to be crying for absolutely no reason – it had been hard to hide the tears from everyone. It wasn’t until Professor McGonagall brought her to Madam Pomfrey who gave her a mood-adjusting potion that she’d felt she could breath again.

“Hey, Elsa.”

The blonde looked up to find some of her friends from third year – Tabitha Wilkins, Selena Moore, and Amish Gupta – all looking up at her with hopeful expressions.

“Hello,” she said feeling guilty. She’d been rather discourteous to them when they tried reaching out to her during her time of darkness.

“How was your summer,” Amish asked, brushing his long black hair away from his face.

“Alright I suppose. Quiet.” Elsa shifted nervously from one foot to the other and felt her face grow hot.

Selena seemed to make an executive decision. “Do you want to sit with us?” She asked as though trying to coax a scared animal from its hiding place.

Elsa choked out a little laugh and nodded, taking the empty seat next to Tabitha.

“I like your hair Elsa, how do you get it to stay so tight? Whenever I try to put my hair up it always falls apart by the end of the day.”

The four of them chatted as though last year had never happened, Elsa was still a little quiet but she was content to just listen to her friends talk. They seemed to understand the blonde had not been in her right mind before and didn’t take any of her actions to heart.

“So did you hear about all that stuff going on with Potter?”

“No,” Elsa said curiosity piqued. She hadn’t really kept up with goings in their world over the summer as she had spent most of her time loosing herself in books, trying to forget.

Amish leaned in. “Well you remember what happened with Cedric Diggory and how Dumbledore told us Potter saw You-Know-You do it?” Elsa nodded. “Well the Daily Prophet keeps going on about how they’re lying and Dumbledore is a nutter.”

Elsa was shocked. Anna always spoke so highly of Harry, and considering his history, it simply didn’t seem like something he would lie about. As for Dumbledore…

“Dumbledore is not crazy,” she said plainly.

“What makes you say that?” Selena asked. They were all looking at her closely now; like most of the Slytherins she knew, they preferred to know all the facts before forming their opinions. 

The young witch tensed. No one other than Kai and Gerda knew about her regular visits with Hogwarts’ Headmaster. The enchantment woven into the fabric of her gloves that capped her winter magic wore away with time and he was the only wizard powerful enough to cast the spell so that it lasted for more than a few days.

She’d seen Dumbledore about a week ago and it had been the same as always. Elsa would remove her gloves and watch him work anxiously as she fought to push down the ice that reared up in response. Before handing them back to her, he would ask her the same question he always did when she met with him; ‘Elsa despite what you wish, your powers will only grow. If you continue to conceal who you are and live in fear of your gift they will remain your enemy. Are you sure this is what you want?’ And each time she would shake her head and tell him ‘I’m not ready.’ He never argued with her.

Elsa owed the man everything; words could not describe how grateful she was that he had agreed to help her and her family. Which is why she was galled at the accusation Dumbledore was not to be trusted or that he was disturbed.

“Oh – er – he was close with my parents and helped my godparents adjust when they… passed.” She knew it was a weak argument but they seemed to accept her explanation and so didn’t press her further.

It was then that the large wooden doors of the Entrance Hall swung open wide to reveal Professor McGonagall holding a small stool and a very old looking hat with a large tear near the brim, covered in patches. As she walked purposefully down the center aisle, a long line of terrified looking first-years trailing behind her, the room fell silent. When she reached the staff table, she placed the stool on the floor, asking the first-years to line up in front of her and wait to be called.

Elsa sympathized with the pale, trembling students waiting to be told which house would become like a second family for the next seven years. She recalled her own Sorting; being the first child to be called, twisting and pulling on her gloves as she looked out at the sea of curious faces staring back at her, holding a single thought in her mind when the large Hat slid over her eyes: keep Anna away. She remembered sagging in relief when her house was called and walking on shaky legs as she’d made her way over to the cheering Slytherin table where the others welcomed her to their ranks.

Elsa frowned however when she noticed many of the new students looking warily at her table, no doubt afraid that they might get put into the house with the worst reputation. She decided to address that at a different time when the Sorting Hat opened its tear for a mouth and began to sing. It started out the same as always, giving a brief history of the school’s founders and the qualities each house valued. But where the song would normally end, the Hat startled everyone when it took up a new verse.

_“ - And now the Sorting Hat is here_

_And you all know the score:_

_I sort you into houses_

_Because that is what I am for,_

_But this year I’ll go further,_

_Listen closely to my song:_

_Though condemned I am to split you_

_Still I worry that it’s wrong,_

_Though I must fulfill my duty_

_And must quarter every year_

_Still I wonder whether Sorting_

_May not bring the end I fear._

_Oh, know the perils, read the signs,_

_The warning history shows,_

_For Hogwarts is in danger_

_From external, deadly foes_

_And we must unite inside her_

_Or we’ll crumble from within_

_I have told you, I have warned you …_

_Let the Sorting now begin._

When the Sorting Hat fell silent everyone hesitated before breaking into applause. All around the hall people turned to each other and began whispering about what it had said.

“A warning from the Sorting Hat? That can’t be good,” murmured Tabitha.

“I wasn’t particularly fond of the whole _deadly foes_ bit,” Selena said, sounding nervous.

“And what do you think it meant by _unite inside her_? Does that mean we are all suppose to be best friends now, because I highly doubt that is going to happen, especially with those thickheaded Gryffindors who think they are better than everyone else,” she said looking over at the table in question, many of the others followed her example. It seemed that most of the Gryffindors were thinking along the same lines as Selena, shooting cold glares over their shoulders at the Slytherin table.

Elsa felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end as she cast her gaze over to the red and gold table, feeling as though she were being watched, and she soon discovered why. Anna was staring at Elsa with the most intense look of longing it caused the blonde’s chest to tighten painfully. The older girl wrenched her eyes away and pretended to be paying special attention to the Sorting.

Elsa felt the weight of Anna’s gaze throughout the entire ceremony, but she didn’t turn her head to check. She didn’t want to give the girl false hope that things could go back to the way they once were. It was simply too dangerous, and Elsa would rather die than risk putting her sister in danger… again.

Once the last student, ‘Zeller, Rose’ was Sorted into Hufflepuff, Dumbledore rose from his seat and announced that the start-of-term feast had begun. The four tables suddenly filled with platters and trays full of delicious looking food. ­

Anna forgot all about Elsa and the Sorting Hat’s warning as she dove into the piles of food in front of her.

“Anna slow down, you are going to choke,” Ginny giggled. She and Anna had left Harry, Ron, and Hermione to go and sit with some fellow fourth-years during the feast.

The girl halted halfway through shoving a large cut of roast beef into her already full-to-bursting mouth and swallowed rather loudly. “What? I’m starving, I haven’t eaten since we left this morning,” she said shrugging.

Across from them Samuel Johnson was eating with equal enthusiasm. “Oh leave her be

Ginny,” he said around a mouthful of food.

Anna held out an arm in his direction. “See, he gets it.” Samuel gave her a thumb’s up and Ginny threw her hands up in surrender.

Just when Anna thought her stomach might explode with food, dessert arrived and she found herself suddenly not quite so full after all. The girl’s eyes were wide as saucers as she watched the empty plates vanish and be replaced with mountains of sugary delights.

Anna was trying to decide which one she was going try first when she froze and tentatively sniffed the air. 

“Hold on, what is that amazing smell?” The girl inhaled deeply and followed the scent to the most mouthwateringly beautiful chocolate cake she had ever seen in her entire life. “Chocolate,” she gasped excitedly.

Across the room Elsa was helping herself to the same treat as her sister.

Once everyone had been fed and the tables were cleared Dumbledore stood up. Everyone turned to face the Headmaster as the ancient wizard dressed in bright purple robes raised his hands and called for silence.

“Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices,” said Dumbledore. “First-years ought to know that the Forest in the grounds is out-of-bounds to students – and a few of our older students ought to know by now, too.” Anna looked down the table at Harry, Ron, and Hermione who were all smirking at each other.

“Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four-hundred-and-sixty-second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr. Filch’s office door.”

“We have two changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons; we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.”

Anna applauded sleepily along with everyone else but perked up when Dumbledore mentioned Quidditch. However just as he was about to tell them the dates for the tryouts a small ‘ _Hem, hem’_ interrupted him.

Many of the students frowned when the tiny Umbridge woman, dressed in an almost frightening amount of pink stood up. Dumbledore seemed to realize that she intended to make a speech and sat back down, staring at her intently. However, the other staff members looked both shocked and disapproving. 

Anna and Ginny shared a look of confusion. Who did this woman think she was, interrupting Dumbledore like that?

“Thank you, Headmaster, for those kind words of welcome,” Umbridge said in a high, girly voice that made Anna instantly irritated.

She grinned at them, but it seemed somewhat forced. “Well it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say! And to see such happy little faces looking up at me!”

Anna thought everyone looked more bored and confused than happy.

“I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all and I’m sure we’ll be very good friends!”

Anna tilted her head to the side and narrowed her eyes at the oddly dressed witch. “I don’t like her face.” Ginny, and several other classmates snickered.

“ _Hem, hem.”_

“Or her voice.”

Professor Umbridge suddenly became more serious and her voice wasn’t as high-pitched anymore. “The Ministry of Magic had always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the wizarding community must be passed down the generations lest we lose them forever…”

Anna blinked up at Umbridge sleepily as she rambled on saying something about progress and tradition, she couldn’t really remember. She was too busy thinking about Quidditch tryouts and the soft, warm bed waiting for her up in Gryffindor tower.

“… let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness and accountability, intent of preserving what ought to be preserve, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and prunning wherever we find practices the ought to be prohibited,” she giggled, setting Anna’s teeth on edge.

The Great Hall was a flurry of activity as people rose from their seats; Dumbledore had dismissed everyone for the evening and they were all eager to return to their common rooms. Elsa said goodbye to her friends and reluctantly stood up. It was her job to show the first-years where to go.

Calls of ‘First-years! All first-years this way!’ rang up and down the hall as the prefects from each house directed their new students.

Elsa watched as Draco shoved a small, red haired boy out of the way as he made is way over to her, Crabe and Goyle trailing behind him like two dogs following their master.

“C’mon you lot, if you fall behind the Blood Baron will get you,” he hollered, causing some of the first-years to grow even paler than before. Crabe and Goyle guffawed loudly.

“Draco!” Elsa scolded.

“Have fun playing mommy, Arendelle, I’m going to bed,” he sneered before leaving Elsa on her own.

Elsa looked down to find a crowd of terrified looking children staring wide-eyed up at her.

“Don’t listen to him, he’s awful,” she said gently. “This way please.”

“You don’t think she hurts kids do you,” she heard someone whisper behind her.

The blonde flexed her jaw angrily. When she saw a girl in Hufflepuff point her out to a friend Elsa began to walk faster so that some of the first-years had to jog to keep up with her angry strides. But she soon realized that she wasn’t the only getting stares and pointing, in fact most of them seemed to be directing their attention to Harry Potter. Elsa spotted him across the room; he looked ready to punch a wall, his face flushed and hands balled into fists.

He seemed to feel her gaze or perhaps overhear someone whisper her name because he suddenly looked her way. The boy gave her a small nod before glaring at the nearest student, who flinched, and stormed off.

The sound of scurrying footfalls echoed off the stones that made up the dungeon hallway as Elsa led the new students to the Slytherin common room. “Try to remember the way but I will be putting up signs for the first week so that you don’t get lost,” Elsa said. She stopped them when they reached a doorway sealed with stone, flanked by floating candles and two shelves stuffed full of old books.

“Tradition,” she said. The first-years stood next to her and watched in fascination as the stonewall moved back a few inches before sliding open.

Elsa felt instantly more at ease as she stepped through the doorway and into the familiar room that had been like a second home to her for the last four years. Everything about it was calming, from the soft lighting of the lamps overhead, to the sound of the black lake lapping at the windows. Two large black couches and a few low backed armchairs sat facing an ornate fireplace that blazed in the center of the room and everywhere you looked there were shelves filled with every kind of book imaginable. She smiled as the paintings of famous Slytherins called warm welcomes to the new students and waved at Amish and Selena who were playing chess in the corner.

“Welcome to the Slytherin common room everyone, I am Elsa Arendelle, your prefect for this year, along with Draco Malfoy. If you have any questions feel free to ask either of us at any time. You will find that your things have already been brought to your dormitories; boys are down the hall on the right, girls on the left. Curfew is set at 9pm so make sure you are back here well before then,” she said sternly. “The password changes every two weeks and I will be posting it on the notice board two days before it is changed so make sure you check it regularly. Our house ghost is the Bloody Baron, don’t be frightened by his name, he is very friendly and has been known to frighten people for you if you get on his good side.” A few of the first-years giggled and she smiled. “Well, I am sure you’re tired, so go unpack your things and make yourselves at home. Breakfast begins at 7:30 and you will receive your schedules tomorrow at that time. Good night.” She finished and the students began to make their way to their dormitories, talking excitedly.

Elsa had started walking over to her friends, when she noticed a small boy sitting in a chair, head bowed and shoulders shaking softly.

“Are you okay,” she asked kindly, kneeing in front of the dark-skinned boy. He shook his head, no. “What wrong?”

He sniffed and looked at her with puffy green eyes. “My brother told me only bad people get put into Slytherin, I don’t want to be bad. And my friend got put in Gryffindor, that means we can’t play anymore.”

Elsa frowned, she hated that people were always bashing her house. “What’s your name?”

“Casey.”

“Well Casey I’m going to tell you something that the other houses sometimes forget,” she said with a comforting smile. He looked at her curiously. “Merlin, the most famous wizard in history, was a Slytherin.”

The boy gasped. “Really?”

“Yes, there he is over there,” Elsa said pointing to a tapestry of a thin wizard talking animatedly with a third-year. “He is very nice and tells the best jokes. You should be proud of your house, many famous politicians and leaders are from Slytherin.”

The boy had stopped crying and was hanging off her every word. “All of the houses have bad wizards and witches, they just don’t like to admit it.”

“Being in Slytherin is the best,” Amish said, coming up behind Elsa. “We are very edgy and cool, plus snakes are really badass, how many people do you know who have tattoos of badgers on their shoulders?”

The little boy laughed and the two older students smiled cheerfully.

“Now, just because your mate is in Gryffindor does mean you can’t be friends anymore. Lots of us have friends and family in other houses,” Amish said reassuringly. “We don’t hate Gryffindors we are both just really competitive. Okay maybe we don’t along that well but that’s just because they are jealous,” he said with a wink.

Elsa was encouraged by the hopefulness on the boy’s face. “Plus we are very close in Slytherin, like a big family, we take care of each other. You are one of us now, and that means your part of the family.”

The boy was looking excited now. “Wow Slytherin sounds really fun, I’m going to unpack now, bye.”

“Good night, Casey,” Elsa said.

“Night,” he replied before hurrying to the boys dormitories.

Elsa stood up and turned to Amish, “Thanks.”

“No worries, I remember when I got Sorted, I was so freaked out, I thought my parents were going to disown me,” he said chuckling.

Elsa yawned. “I think is time for me to go to sleep as well, see you tomorrow.”

“See ya.”

xxx

_She tried to run but she didn’t know which way to go. All she could see was white, no matter which direction she turned her line of sight was blocked by the blizzard that raged around her. Elsa could say why but somehow she knew the storm was because of her, and sure enough when she looked down, her hands were bare. She had to get away, had to find her gloves, she might hurt someone like she’d hurt Anna…oh god what if Anna is nearby._

_An unexpected and overwhelming feeling that she was being hunted choked her with fear, and she became even more frantic to find an escape. Suddenly, a man appeared before her, she didn’t know him but she sensed he was the one chasing her. Before she could flee he yelled something at her. ‘You can’t run from this!’_

_Elsa turned to face him. ‘Please, just make sure my sister is okay. I- I have to go!’ she screamed._

_The man shook his head. ‘Your sister? She came back weak and cold, said that you hurt her again!’_

_‘What? No, no I was so careful!’ Elsa yelled, her chest rose and fell rapidly in time with her mounting panic. The icy wind howled even louder in response._

_‘Your sister is DEAD… because of you.’ Elsa stopped breathing altogether._

_‘No.’ She stumbled backwards away from the faceless man. ‘No, you’re wrong!’ Elsa screeched at the man who was no longer there. Instead an unmoving young woman took his place. She was dressed all in blue and the storm must have been too cold for her because her skin seemed to be turning the same colour, Elsa took a step closer._

_‘No,’ she whispered in horror._

_It was Anna, frozen solid and staring at Elsa with a look of such absolute terror that she felt bile rise in her throat. ‘ANNA! No, no, no. Please, no,’ the blonde begged, hoping that if she denied it hard enough it would all go away. But as she cupped her dead sister’s cheeks, so smooth they could have been mistaken for glass, Elsa knew it could not be taken back._

_It finally became too much and Elsa felt her legs give out so that she came crashing to her hands and knees with an anguished cry. All at once the winds died away and time seemed to stand still, even the once angry snowflakes remained suspended in midair, unable to finish their decent._

_‘I’m so sorry Anna,’ she whimpered as hot tears rolled down her face. Her small body convulsed with broken sobs, unable to accept the fact that she had destroyed the last of her remaining family, snuffling out her life like a candle in the wind._

_‘It should have been me!’ Elsa howled slamming her fist on the frozen earth. A large fissure appeared beneath her hand and snaked its way over to her sister’s still form. She tried to stop it but soon cracks appeared all over Anna’s body and she crumbled away to dust. “Anna! No, Anna no! Come back! Anna!’_

Elsa sat up so violently that she felt the blood rush to her head and almost fell off the bed. She was trembling hard enough to cause her teeth to start chattering and she could seem to suck in air fast enough. Her nightshirt clung to her body, damp with sweat, and tears still streaked down her face at an alarming rate as images from the nightmare continued to flash through her mind.

Immediately Elsa ripped back her sheets and began to frantically pat down the bed, she had to find them, find them _now_.

“You’re already wearing them,” called a soft voice to her left, causing Elsa to jump.

Tabitha was sitting up in bed, her brown curls mussed from sleep and was watching Elsa with a mixture of worry and sadness etched in her face, but she didn’t dare try to approach the blonde when she was like this. Most of the Slytherin girls in Elsa’s year knew that the young witch had frequent nightmares that often left her in hysterics, and invading her space only made things worse.

“It’s okay Elsa, look at your hands, you’re still wearing them.”

Elsa held up her shaking hands, eyes wild and heart pounding. She sagged in relief when she found her gloves still securely wrapped around her fingers.

“You were saying her name in your sleep again,” Tabitha said sympathetically. “Are you okay?”

Elsa nodded slowly. “Thank you,” she hiccupped.

The girl gave her a small smile before lying back down; knowing Elsa would want some privacy. Sure enough, as soon as Tabitha’s head hit her pillow she heard the other girl pull the curtains around her bed closed and begin to sob quietly.

Almost the entire school knew about the Arendelle sister’s relationship and how Elsa held Anna at arms length. But only the other Slytherins seem to understand that Elsa had a good reason for it, even if they didn’t know what that reason was.


	4. Predictions and Potions

Elsa tried in vain to blink back the sleep that still clouded her eyes as she made her way to the Great Hall. Her friends had gone ahead without her that morning since she'd had to post a few announcements on the Slytherin noticeboard and make sure that all the first-years made it to breakfast on time.

Unable to hold it back any longer, Elsa pressed a single hand to her mouth as a loud yawn broke past her lips. She hadn't managed to get much rest after the nightmare last night and it had left her drained.

_Exhausted on the first day of classes, that's just what I need, she thought miserably._

"… all I'm saying is that flying is skill that everyone needs; it is not only super fun but practical too… like how all muggles learn to drive a car. That's why I don't get why flying isn't offered as an elective..."

Elsa's head whipped around, she knew that voice and felt a wave of panic as Anna and her friend Ginny rounded the corner. She spotted a wide pillar and disappeared behind it before the girls could see her.

The dream had renewed Elsa resolve to keep away from her sister. The incident on the train had been a mistake and the blonde knew it was her fault, she should have left the moment she saw the girl, but she had been greedy. Although in general the Arendelle sisters did not interact, they still lived the same house and that meant they saw each other regularly. So, when Anna went away for the summer Elsa felt her absence like a physical loss, which was what triggered the blonde's atypical reaction to seeing her younger sister again. She had let her selfishness get the better of her and it was because of her selfishness that she had, once again, caused Anna pain and Elsa hated herself for it.

Elsa pressed her back against the cold marble and tried to make herself as small as possible lest she be seen. The two friends passed so close to the girl's hiding place that Elsa was sure they could hear the thundering beat of her heart that seemed hell bent on breaking free of it's cage.

Once they had disappeared into the Great Hall Elsa felt herself sag with relief, but it was a bitter sort of relief. I can't keep living like this. I am trying so hard to keep her safe, but all I ever end up doing is hurting her more. I am so tired of hurting her… I wish I could just leave, she thought, her eyes prickling with frustrated tears. More than once Elsa had begged her parents to let her attend the Wizarding School in Oslo, Norway; they had been planning on sending her there anyway, but the blonde had always been met with refusal.

Elsa had grown up in Norway; it was where her family was originally from, she and Anna both still spoke fluent Norwegian, but her parents had decided to move to Britain so that their daughter and unborn child might attend the finest school in Europe.

She was still trying to collect herself when Elsa heard three new voices. She turned her head very slowly to find Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley walking down the stairs in her direction. It seemed as though Ron and Hermione were having a bit of an argument because both of them were speaking rather loudly, while Harry looked exasperated.

"… the point is," Hermione said, "that this sort of thing is exactly what Dumbledore was talking about. You-Know-Who's only been back two months and we've already started fighting among ourselves. And the Sorting Hat's warning," this caught Elsa's attention, "was the same: stand together, be united - "

"And Harry got it right last night," interrupted Ron. "If that means we are supposed to get matey with the Slytherins – fat chance."

Elsa bristled at his comment. It angered her to no end when people like Ronald Weasley assumed that just because someone was in Slytherin they were not worth his time. She had worked very hard to improve the reputation of her House and change the way people looked at them, like they were all destined to become death eaters.

"Well, I think it's a pity we're not trying for some inter-house unity," said Hermione sounding cross, to which Elsa found herself smiling in approval. "Besides, I've known Slytherins to tutor younger students from other houses."

"What? Who?" Harry demanded, eyeing Hermione suspiciously. They had now reached the foot of the staircase and Elsa melted further into the shadows.

"Well for one, Samantha Parr, who also heads the school's Potions club – open to all houses – and Anna's sister. She used to tutor lots of kids in her third-year, before… well." Hermione trailed off sadly and Elsa felt her throat tighten.

"Well Arendelle isn't exactly in the running for Slytherin of the year now is she," Ron replied haughtily. Elsa never found out if his friends agreed with him because their voices had faded away into the Great Hall.

The blonde knew she should be angry at the insult but as she clutched the locket that hung from her neck tightly in her fist, all Elsa felt was a burning guilt.

Anna and Ginny were talking excitedly about the upcoming Quidditch tryouts when

Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat down next to them.

"… he was a good Keeper," Harry said sounding a little disheartened, obviously he had heard the news that Oliver Wood had left Hogwarts.

"Still, it would hurt to have some new blood, will it?" said Ron before he began to pile his plate with eggs and toast. Hermione watched him, looking equal parts fascinated and disgusted.

"You guys talking about the tryouts too?" Anna asked eagerly.

Harry nodded from across the table. "Yeah, I'd forgotten Oliver had left, but Angelina is going to be captain now so maybe our pep talks will be little less long winded," he said grinning. "You guys thinking about trying out this year?"

"No not me, I'm rubbish at Keeping, but Anna wants to," Ginny said nudging her friend's arm.

This seemed to catch Ron's attention because he had paused in his eating to give Anna a curious look.

The girl suddenly looked embarrassed and pushed a half eaten sausage around her plate. "I dunno, maybe. I am probably not good enough though, and besides, I was always better at Beater anyways."

"Couldn't hurt to come out and get a feel for it," Harry said encouragingly. "I've seen you fly Anna, you're better than you give yourself credit for."

"Yeah?" Anna sat up a little straighter and smiled. "Yeah ok, maybe I will then."

The unmistakable sound of ruffling feathers and hooting filled the Great Hall as owls of all sizes and colours arrived with the morning post. Anna looked up and tried to spot Olaf among the other birds and smiled when she saw the little barn owl swoop towards her on silent wings. The moment his claws touched the table he began to bounce in front of Anna, nudging her hand for attention.

Anna giggled and scratched him in that special spot under his chin to which he twittered appreciatively. "Hey little guy, you got anything for me today?" At the sound of her voice Olaf bobbed his head eagerly and lifted his leg, looking very pleased with himself.

"Thanks Olaf," Anna said stroking the little owl. He nibbled at her finger affectionately before taking off to the owlery. Anna opened up the envelope her owl had delivered and began to read. It was a letter from Gerda, asking how her stay with the Weasleys had been and if she had forgotten anything.

"Yes, it finally came!" Ginny cried happily, holding a copy of her favourite Quidditch magazine, Whizzing Broomsticks, out in front of her.

"Nice one, I read that this month's issue has an interview with the entire Irish team…" Anna trailed off when she heard voices whispering behind her.

"You ask her."

"No, I dared you, you can't back out now."

"Oh shut up you sissys, I'll do it."

The redhead turned around to find three first-year Ravenclaw students standing behind her, all of which looked alarmed when she turned to face them. "What? What do you want to ask me?" she asked gently.

One of the kids stepped forward, or rather shoved his friends aside. He was a chubby blond boy with cruel eyes and Anna thought he looked like the type to bully small children.

"Is it true your sister's boggart is herself? My brother told me-" Anna jumped up so fast that she knocked over her plate, causing people to look up from their meals to stare at her, and glared down at the boy.

"I don't care what your skanky brother says," Anna said loudly, her face turning red. "Tell him that he should stop listening to Malfoy's stupid lies. Now bugger off before I break your stupid, lying nose."

When the boy looked like he was going to argue Ginny stood up beside her friend. "She said leave," the redhead growled.

He seemed sense that staying would be a dangerous move and hurried away with his friends following close behind him.

Anna threw herself angrily down in her seat and set her clenched fists on the table in front of her. "Why do people believe the rubbish Malfoy comes up with? Only someone who did something horrible would have their boggart turn into them, and Elsa's never done anything bad…" Anna's expression turned sad. "You can't do anything bad when you hardly leave your bedroom," she mumbled softly.

Ginny, Harry, Ron, and Hermione shared sad looks. The news of what had transpired in Elsa's Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson had spread like wildfire – despite Professor Lupin's best efforts – and everyone's story had been the same; Elsa Arendelle had seen herself staring back at her when the Boggart changed. However, Anna had remained firmly in denial since then, convinced it was just another nasty rumor Malfoy and his thugs had thought up, her friends on the other hand weren't so sure.

Hermione was the only one in their group who knew the truth. During the summer she'd asked Lupin about it and, albeit reluctantly, he relayed the story to her. In the end, she had decided to keep this information to herself however; it wasn't her story to share.

xxx

Elsa was feeling much better as she made her way to the dungeons for her potions lesson; the overwhelming guilt that was her near constant companion had faded into a dull ache, making it easier to push the emotions away to the back of her mind. Her first class that day had been Arithmacy and Professor Vector had wasted no time diving head first into the difficult subject. For three quarters of an hour the blonde was able to lose herself in complex number charts and hastily scribbled notes.

Most of the class had already arrived when Elsa entered Professor Snape's classroom so that it took her a few moments to spot her friends waving at her from across the dark room. As she made her way over to her seat it became eerily quiet and Elsa felt the familiar prickling on the back of her neck that signaled she was being watched. Sure enough, when the young witch glanced around people quickly turned their eyes away, pretending they hadn't just been caught staring. Elsa hunched her shoulders and walked faster to her friends who were shooting cold glares at their classmates. Had it been like this last year? People whispering and staring at Elsa as if she were ticking time bomb ready to explode at any moment? She couldn't remember.

"Settle down," drawled Snape unnecessarily as he swept behind his desk in a flourish of cloaks.

"Before we begin today's lesson, I think it appropriate to remind you that next June you will be sitting an important examination, during which you will prove how much you have learned about the composition and use of magical potions. Moronic though some of this class undoubtedly are," Elsa frowned. "I expect you to scrape by with an "Acceptable" in your O.W.L., or suffer my displeasure."

His gaze seemed to be fixed on one student in particular and Elsa heard Neville swallow loudly.

"After this year, of course, many of you will cease studying with me. I take only the very best into my N.E.W.T. Potions class, which means that some of us will certainly say goodbye."

The Professor's eyes had found their next target and he was now sneering at Harry Potter, which had more than a few people rolling their eyes. Snape and Potter had been at each other's throats since day one and many of the other fifth-years no longer found their feud entertaining, but instead tiring and childish – despite what some might think, this included the Slytherins.

"But we have another year to go before that happy moment of farewell. So, whether or not you are intending to attempt N.E.W.T., I advise all of you to concentrate your efforts upon maintaining the high pass level I have come to expect from my O.W.L. students."

Snape waved his wand at the blackboard next to him and detailed instructions appeared. "Today we will be mixing a potion that often comes up at Ordinary Wizarding Level: the Draught of Peace, a potion to calm anxiety and soothe agitation."

Elsa sat up a little straighter. She recognized the potion as one of the few concoctions Madam Pomfrey had given her last year to help bring the girl back to herself.

"Be warned: if you are too heavy-handed with the ingredients you will put the drinker into a heavy and sometimes irreversible sleep, so you will need to pay close attention to what you are doing." Elsa held back a small smile, after taking the draught for the first time Elsa had slept for two full days. Although, in her case it had nothing to do with the quality of the potion.

"The ingredients and method are here," Snape pointed to the blackboard behind him, "and you will find everything you need in the store cupboard," he flicked his wand again and the cupboard in question sprang open, startling the nearest student. "You have an hour and a half… start."

The room became a sea of activity as fifth-years moved about gathering ingredients and setting up cauldrons.

"I'll go get the ingredients, you guys start reading the instructions," Amish said before joining the line at the store cupboard.

The four of them had been planning to work together so that they would have a better chance at success but Professor Snape had approached the group five minutes in and informed them that this was to be an individual assignment. However, any time the professor turned his back to glare down his hooked nose at one student or another they would whisper questions and hints to each other. Elsa couldn't help but notice that Draco and Pansy had been chatting noisly the entire lesson and Snape paid them no mind. It had always baffled her that Snape seemed to favour the greasy-haired boy; he wasn't even good at Potions. Whether it was because of who Draco's father was or their mutual distain for Potter, Elsa had no idea. Whatever the reason, it irked her to no end that Slytherin's Head of House could be so immature.

If she was being honest Elsa had never really liked Snape. She'd lost all respect for him a long time ago when she saw the way he treated certain students from the other Houses. It was one thing to be a little biased towards your House, but to bully - and in some cases, outright abuse - other students was completely inappropriate.

With about ten minutes of class left, Professor Snape stood up from his desk where he had been supervising everyone through the haze that had grown steadily thicker as vapor of all different colours rose from the multitude of cauldrons. "A light silver vapor should be rising from your potion," he called.

Elsa panicked slightly when she looked down at her bubbling potion, no vapor in sight, but sighed in relief when the surface began to slowly release a small silver cloud. She looked around the foggy room to see if anyone else had been able to get it right. It seemed that only Hermione Granger in Gryffindor had been able to achieve the desired result as well as three cauldrons besides Elsa's from Slytherin. Elsa felt a smile of pride tug at her lips.

Amish was frantically fiddling with the fire under his cauldron, it seemed as though he had raised the temperature too high and his potion was starting to boil over. Selena's hair was twice its normal size and sweat dripped from her brow, her potion emitting a thick black smoke; Tabitha's looked alright, a bright white mist swirling around the surface of the liquid but it wouldn't rise any higher than a few inches.

Elsa noticed that Snape had stopped in front of Harry Potter's cauldron and was glaring down his hooked nose at the boy. "Potter, what is this supposed to be?"

At the front of the room, Malfoy and his friends looked up eagerly; watching Professor Snape torment Harry was their favourite pastime.

"The Draught of Peace," Harry said hesitantly, his potion was issuing an alarming amount of dark grey steam.

"Tell me, Potter. Can you read?"

Draco laughed and Elsa threw him a withering look.

"Here we go again," Tabitha murmured out of side of her mouth. Elsa sighed and nodded in reply.

"Yes I can," Harry said through clenched teeth.

Snape's lip curled. "Read the third line of the instructions for me, Potter."

Elsa found herself narrowing her eyes at the blackboard trying to see if she could spot the problem herself. Add powdered moonstone, stir three time counter-clockwise, allow to simmer for seven minutes then add two drops of syrup of hellebore. Her heart sank for the boy.

Harry mumbled something softly that Elsa couldn't make out.

"I beg your pardon."

"I forgot the hellbore," said Harry loudly, sounding angry now.

"I know you did, Potter, which means this mess is utterly worthless." Snape waved his wand casually over Harry's cauldron. "Evanesco." Harry's Draught of Peace vanished.

"Those of you who have managed to read the instructions, fill one flagon with a sample of your potion, label it clearly with your name and bring it up to my desk for testing. Homework: twelve inches of parchment on the properties of moonstone and its uses in potion making, to be handed in on Thursday."

Elsa packed up her belongings, filled and labeled her flagon, and handed it to her Professor with the faintest look of disappointment in her eyes. She, Amish, Selena, and Tabitha had started making their to the Great Hall for lunch when they caught sight of Malfoy taunting a first-year; his lackey, Vincent was holding one of the boy's books over his head, just out of reach. Elsa recognized the little boy as Casey, the Slytherin she had consoled last night.

Elsa turned to her friends. "You guys go ahead, I need to deal with… this." She gestured vaguely in Malfoy's direction.

"Good luck," Selena said before the three of them turned down the adjacent hallway.

"Draco!" Elsa yelled striding up to the Slytherin boy whose cruel laughter died when he saw Elsa. "Give it here, Vincent or I will give you detention for a week," she said firmly and holding out her hand.

Vincent Crabbe glared at her and dropped the Casey's book in her outstretched palm. She nodded before handing the book to the first-year who took it from her, mumbling his thanks, and sprinted to the safety of the Great Hall.

"Must you always act like 8 year olds?" Elsa asked planting her hands on her hips. "He is part of our House."

"Our House?" Malfoy scoffed. "How did you manage that anyway? Are blood traitors even allowed in Slytherin?"

Elsa stiffened.

Purebloods, like Malfoy often accused the Arendelle family of being blood traitors partly because their parents' job at the Ministry had been to act as ambassadors of the wizarding world. Maintaining peace between the magical and non-magical communities and keeping muggle leaders up to date with the goings on and anything that could potentially affect their lives, especially during You-Know-Who's time. It had been during one of their missions - the summer before Anna started her first year and Elsa started her second - that they were attacked by a band of Death Eaters who had remained faithful to their master's cause.

However, the most glaring reason behind Draco's accusation was because Anna and Elsa's godparents were muggles. Kai had been a high-ranking butler for the British Royal Family and as a result had worked alongside Elsa's parents on behalf of the Queen. They had become extremely close over the years. Growing up, Kai and Gerda had been like family and had taken in the girls without hesitation when Adgar and Idunn Arendelle were tragically taken away from them.

Draco must have been in a particularly cruel mood that morning, or maybe he was feeling a surge of bravery now that he had her alone, with his muscle behind him.

"Although, blood traitor may not be the right word." The arrogance in his tone made

Elsa's fingers itch. "You and your sister live with muggles, so really you're not much better than mudbloods are you?"

Crabbe and Goyle's laughter echoed down the empty corridor.

The hex slammed into his chest before any of them had seen Elsa draw her wand. Draco spun impressively through the air for a few seconds before landing heavily on his backside, while his bodyguards stumbled back from the concussion of the spell. In perfect synchronization, all three boys looked at Elsa wearing expressions of both surprise and terror.

She was standing a few feet away breathing heavily, wand clenched tightly in her hand and held at the ready. The cerulean blue of her eyes burned so bright that they could almost be mistaken for glowing and her teeth were bared in an animalistic snarl. Her gloves were working overtime to keep her ice in check, but Elsa could still feel the storm rolling just below her skin.

"Leave," she hissed.

At first, they just stared at her frozen in their shock. But when she took a step in their direction they suddenly scrambled to obey her command and bolted down the hallway.

"My father will hear about this!" Draco howled over his shoulder.

As soon as her tormenters had disappeared from sight a searing pain flared at the base of her skull and Elsa screwed her eyes shut. Capping her wandless magic didn't come without a few nasty side effects and powerful headaches were one of them. In this particular case, the pain was so intense that it had the witch swaying on her feet and she had to try very hard not to be sick all over the floor.

It took a few minutes for the pain to subside enough that Elsa felt it was safe to walk, but instead of heading to the Great Hall, the blonde slowly made her way to the Hospital Wing.

xxx

Anna and Ginny raced toward the North Tower at breakneck speed, leaving a trail of wet footprints behind them and almost colliding with any student foolish enough to step into their path. After their Care of Magical Creatures lesson, Anna and Ginny ran into Gryffindor's new quidditch captain, Angelina and had gotten to talking about the up coming tryouts. It wasn't until it started pouring rain that the girls realized how late they were for their last class of the day.

By the time they had reached the top of the stairs, the two of them where doubled over trying to catch their breaths. When they were finally able to compose themselves Ginny cast a drying charm so that they were no longer dripping all over the floor before tucking her wand back into her robes.

"Let's get this over with," Anna said stepping onto the ladder.

As Anna slowly lifted the trap door and climbed up into the room she wrinkled her nose against the overpowering aroma of incense and fought the urge to sneeze. As her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting she looked around the hazy room. Professor Trelawney was nowhere in sight and it looked as though she and Ginny were the last students to arrive. Ginny pointed to the only remaining empty table, and Anna deflated a little, it was right at the front of the classroom which meant she would actually have to participate today.

"Looks like we are doing crystal balls," Ginny said flopping down on one of the plush cushions that their divination teacher preferred over normal chairs.

"The hardest one on the first day back? Perfect," Anna said sarcastically.

Anna squirmed around on her cushion, in her third year she had thought they would be fun, but soon realized they were crazy uncomfortable and often slipped off them in her attempts to find a good position.

Finally she settled down and leaned forward to examine the large glass sphere resting in the center of their table. Under the smooth surface a grey cloud of smoke swirled and twisted, forming patterns and shapes that dissolved each time Anna tried to focus on them.

"Remember last year when I saw a bird in mine?" Anna said watching the cloud continuously curl in on itself.

Ginny scoffed. "Anna, it was a reflection. You were sitting next to a window."

"You're just jealous of my gift," she said and stuck out her tongue when Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Good afternoon," chanted a soft, dreamy voice. Professor Trelawney suddenly appeared through the thick fog that choked the room. "No need to discuss your summers, as I have been following each of you closely using the Sight." As she spoke the many beads and bangles that decorated her neck and wrists bounced around noisily. "Today, we will return to the ancient art of crystal gazing. Find a partner and turn to page 248 of Unfogging the Future 2 by Cassandra Vablastsky. This year we will focus on technique and how to better interpret the subtle details of your predictions."

Shuffling of paper and the crackling of book spines filled the room as everyone pulled out their textbooks and began to read.

Anna gazed longingly at the back of the class where she saw a Ravenclaw boy napping peacefully, _that could have been me_ , she thought. Sighing, she pulled the thick black-bound book with a picture of a full moon shrouded in fog on the cover and lazily flipped through the pages.

"Alright so it says you need to relax your conscious mind and your external eyes," Ginny said looking up at Anna who already seemed like she was going fall asleep, her eyelids drooping. "That's the spirit," the girl giggled and Anna scowled.

Trelawney had begun pacing around the room, her many shawls flowing behind her, and peering over shoulders. "You must broaden your sight and look past the mundane. Stretch the shriveled corners of your mind so that you may awake the Seeing Eye and unravel the future." She stopped at Anna and Ginny's table. "Ms. Arendelle."

Anna snapped to attention, wobbling precariously on her seat. "I'm awake - er – I mean, yes professor?"

"You look as though you have made the transition into clarity. What do you see child?" she said blinking down at the redhead, eyes magnified by her thick glasses.

Ginny looked back and forth between them.

Anna cleared her throat loudly and desperately tried to think of something believable. "Well, I – um – see…" she stared hard at the orb. "Clouds," she said, but it sounded more like a question than a statement.

Ginny's face turned red with the effort of holding back her laughter.

"Clouds?" professor Trelawney asked slowly.

"Um – yea, but…" Anna glanced up quickly to look for anything that might give her ideas for phony predictions and caught sight of the window. "…they're storm clouds, it's… its's raining," she finished looking up hopefully.

Trelawney didn't look convinced. "Let me take a look dear," she said gently pushing Anna to the side and bending over so that her nose almost touched the glass.

A few people rolled their eyes when they caught sight of their teacher waving her hands dramatically around the crystal ball and turned back to their individual conversations. She would probably just predict Anna's premature, and devastating demise before moving on.

After a few moments of muttering under her breath, the woman stopped abruptly and tilted her head to the side. Anna felt her stomach drop when she noticed Trelawney's eyes had clouded over.

"Snow."

"Snow?" Anna asked nervously, her brow furrowed.

"Yes. Snow."

Anna and Ginny shared a confused look. Ginny simply shrugged as means of explanation.

"You mean I actually saw something!? I mean," she corrected hurriedly. "I know I said rain but I suppose that snow is pretty close to rain. I mean it's not exactly the same but they are both water right? Snow is like frozen version of water and stuff right-"

Trelawney gasped sharply, causing to Anna snap her mouth shut and some of the students jumped in alarm. It was as if someone had flipped a switch, changing the atmosphere if the room instantly; the classroom darkened and it felt as if the air was charged with electricity. The woman was now staring wide-eyed at the sphere, mouth hanging open and panting slightly.

The professor suddenly whipped her head in Anna's direction, eyes locking on the girl and began to speak, but her voice had taken on a strange otherworldly quality that made Anna's hair stand on end.

_"One, born of cold and winter air_

_And mountain rain combining._

_This icy force both foul and fair_

_Has a frozen heart worth mining._

_The other, made of warmth and light;_

_Though sadness taints the soul._

_A little button that longs for flight_

_With an open door as her goal._

_Joined by blood, divided by fear;_

_The serpent and the lion shall form a pact._

_So cut through the heart cold and clear,_

_And rebuild the bond through true love's act._

_Split the ice apart,_

_Beware the frozen heart."_

And as quickly as it had come, the ominous feeling that filled the room disappeared and Professor Trelawney stood up. The entire class had gone still, no one brave enough to break the silence as they all watched their teacher nervously.

"Professor?" Ginny called softly.

Trelawney blinked down at Ginny a few times as if she couldn't figure out why the girl was talking to her and finally her eyes came back into focus. "I'm sorry, dear did you say something?"

"I - no, are you alright Professor?" Ginny said, genuinely concerned.

"Of course, Ms. Weasley what would make you think otherwise?" she replied nonchalantly.

Anna shook herself from her shock. "You mean you don't remember anything?"

"Remember? Remember what child?" Professor Trelawney had seemed to notice that her entire class was staring at her as if she'd just announced she was going to renounce her Sight to go and train dragons in Bulgaria. "Why do you all look so frightened? Did you see something?" she asked, sounding hopeful yet doubtful at the same time.

"No, professor," said a Ravenclaw girl on Trelawney's left. "You saw something in Anna's crystal ball."

A few people nodded in agreement.

"Nonsense," the woman said shaking her head firmly. "You all must be mistaken, I always remember my predictions."

The bell rang, signaling classes had ended for the day.

"Ah time is up already? I would like for everyone to read chapters 1-3 of Unfogging the Future for next class. Good day." And with that Professor Trelawney had retreated back into her office.

As the class made their way down the tower's spiral staircase there wasn't a single student not discussing what had happened during their first Divination lesson. Anna on the other hand wasn't talking; instead she was deep in her own thoughts as she and Ginny walked towards the Great Hall. What did Professor Trelawney's prediction mean?

"Anna?" Ginny's voice sounded far away.

"Hmm," said Anna turning towards her friends worried face.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah I think so. What do you think she meant, _beware the frozen heart_?"

Ginny shook her head, "I have no clue, but maybe Hermione will have an idea, she's good at solving riddles."

Anna spotted a group of forth-year Ravenclaw girls timidly look over their shoulders at her and frowned. “She’ll probably have heard the whole story by the time we get to dinner,” she huffed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOh a prediction on the first day, I hope you all liked this chapter :)


	5. The Order of the Pheonix

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I realized there were a few things I needed to clarify before we moved forward with the story. This is a very Anna-centric chapter so hooray for all my Anna lovers out there! I realize I tend to focus more on Elsa in my writing but that is only because I am able to read her character better, so please let me know if Anna seems OOC. This is a quick look into Anna's summer with the Weasley's, but for those of you that either haven't read the books or don't remember, the Weasley's spend that summer at Grimmauld Place. So this will give context as to why Anna was allowed to join. Enjoy!

Anna read and re-read the letter for what must have been the 87th time. It was from her friend Ginny, inviting Anna to come and stay with her, and the rest of the Weasley family, for the remainder of the summer. Today was the day they were finally picking her up.

With only a month left until the start of term Anna was beyond excited to get away from her depressing family and finally escape the dark cloud that always seemed to choke the halls. The redhead had written to her friend practically every week, desperate for someone to talk to and always complaining about how bored she was. Clearly Ginny had taken the hint and found a way to save Anna from her lonely world.

She had been so thrilled that she responded immediately with an enthusiastic yes and they sent an owl saying they would be there to retrieve her in a week. The young witch had been packed for almost three days now, and was currently standing in the sitting room with an overflowing trunk and a broomstick leaning against it.

Anna looked up at the clock. Ginny had said they would be there to get her around five in the afternoon, which meant they would be there any minute. Gerda, still not entirely comfortable with the idea of not seeing her goddaughter for almost five months, was busy fussing over Anna.

“Did you remember all your books, Anna?” Gerda asked for the millionth time. “Don’t forget to lock Olaf’s cage, we don’t want him flying all over the train now do we,” she chuckled, but the laughter never reached her soft brown eyes.

Anna smiled as the portly woman smoothed the girl’s hair, again, and adjusted her jumper.

“Gerda.”

“Yes, dear,” the woman said looking up at her, as she was considerably shorter than Anna, anxiety etched in her round face.

“I’m going to miss you too,” Anna said smiling, feeling tears prickle behind her blue eyes.

Despite her eagerness to leave, Anna had never been apart from her godparents this long before, and it left her more than a little nervous.

The older woman choked out a little half sob half laugh and engulfed the girl in a bone-crushing embrace, pining Anna’s arms to her sides and causing her eyes to grow wide with surprise.

“Let her breath, love, you’re going to squeeze her to death,” Kai chuckled, walking over to the pair. “She’ll be home before you know it.”

Gerda pulled away, sniffling and dabbing at her eyes with the tissue she always kept in her pocket. “I know. I’m just going to miss you is all. I know we have never seen you off at the train station but still,” she began to tear up again. “I won’t get to say goodbye before you leave.”

Because Kai and Gerda were muggles they weren’t able to cross the barrier to platform 9¾, it only allowed those possessing magic to cross. Anna had been heart broken when Dumbledore – the man who had taken it upon himself to help Kai and Gerda adjust to being the guardians of two witches - had informed them of this. She remembered her first year and how upset she had been when not only would her parents never be able to see her board the Hogwarts Express, but her godparents, who had been her rock during the storm of her grief, couldn’t go with her either. Instead, she had been stuck with her cold and indifferent older sister who simply told her where to go before abandoning her on the platform.

That was when she first met Ginny, who found her crying in an empty compartment.

Kai rested a large hand on her shoulder, the wrinkles around his eyes deepening when he grinned down at her. “She’ll be fine. Won’t you Button?”

Anna smiled at his pet name for her. He said it was because the buttons of his jacket were always falling off – he blamed Gerda’s fabulous cooking for that - and getting lost, just as Anna tended to get lost, due to her spirited nature.

“Aren’t I always,” she giggled.

In was then that a whooshing sound filled the fireplace as bright green flames sprang to life, causing Gerda to jump back in surprise a hand shooting up to her chest. A rush of warm air blew Anna’s hair back, causing a small cloud of ash to spill over the hearth. The flames sputtered out and two figures stepped into the Anderson’s home.

“I will never get used to that,” said Gerda, a little breathless.

“Ginny!” Anna cried and ran forward to hug her best friend, who laughed and hugged her back.

“Good to see you too, Anna”

“Hello, Anna,” Mr. Weasley beamed as he dusted off his bright green robes, which coincidently where the same shade as the fire from which had just emerged.

“Arthur,” Kai greeted, stepping forward to shake the wizard’s hand.

“Good to see you again, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson. Lovely home you have here.” He said looking around.

It wasn’t a relatively large room; in fact the entirety of the house wasn’t very big either. Although the Arendelles had been a relatively wealthy family and left behind a considerably large inheritance to their two beloved daughters, which included the house they had grown up in, they had decided to sell it. Instead, they moved to cozy little house in London that wasn’t full of painful memories and unwelcome reminders of what they had lost.

Vases of flowers occupied practically every surface and photographs covered the walls – most of which were of Anna, a few contained Elsa but none of them seemed to document the blonde beyond the age of eight or nine. Two very comfortable looking couches dominated the room, both of which faced Kai and Gerda’s television. A sizable window took up the far wall, keeping the space well lit and provided a beautiful view of the front garden. Anna loved to sit in the window seat there and read her books or watch the people who walked by.

“Sorry to pick her up so late in the day,” said Mr. Weasley. “So, how are things?”

“Can’t complain I suppose, but the girls have been exceptionally tense this summer,” said Kai.

Suddenly Mr. Anderson became quite serious and leaned in a little closer to the wizard, speaking in hushed tones. “Anna told us what happened. Arthur is something happening in your world that I need to be aware of. Is it about… _him_.”

Kai and Gerda may have been muggles but they did their best to keep up with the goings on of the world their godchildren lived in. They did not understand everything, but they did know about Voldemort – the man who had indirectly been the cause of their friends’ murder – and they knew about Anna’s friend Harry Potter who had single handedly defeated him.

“I can’t tell you the details right now, mostly because I don’t know them all myself,” Mr. Weasley said quietly. “But, yes we have good reason to suspect he has returned.”

Gerda inhaled sharply through her nose and tried not to allow the wave of cold dread that washed over her show on her face. She needed to stay strong – for her girls.

Kai frowned and looked thoughtful. “Arthur I need you to be honest with me… will they be safe at Hogwarts?”

Mr. Weasley looked taken aback. “Of course. It is probably the safest place for them right now with what is happening. You know Dumbledore, you know his influence.”

Kai did not look placated. “Yes I know Dumbledore and I trust him, but I also know that a boy died while under his care. He is only human Arthur, he is not untouchable.”

“I understand your concerns Kai, but I assure you that new defenses have been introduced, stronger ones. They will be safe,” he reassured them, offering a comforting smile. “My advice for you is to lay low for a while, don’t bring too much attention to yourselves and I will do my best to keep you updated.”

The Andersons nodded in unison, trying to hide their growing worry.

Gerda glanced over at Anna who was chatting excitedly with her friend and introducing her to little Olaf who hopped excitedly up and down in his cage.

Mr. Weasley followed her gazed and patted her shoulder gently. “I promise we will take good care of her.”

Gerda simply nodded, the lump in her throat preventing her from speaking.

“Alright girls, ready to go?” he said clapping his hands together. He pulled out his wand from deep within his robes. “Now, I think it would be easier if…” He trailed off, eyes fixed on something across the room and his face lit up. “What. Is that?” he asked pointing to the corner.

Gerda and Kai exchanged confused looks. Ginny sighed and rolled her eyes.

“You mean the hoover?” Gerda asked, utterly bewildered as to why someone with magical abilities would find something so pedestrian as a vacuum, interesting.

Gerda often times began cleaning when she was anxious. She said it helped her regain some sense control and kept her mind busy. As a result, she had vacuumed the entire house that morning to help her ease her nerves and prevent her from lingering on the thought of not having her bright little Anna around for the whole summer holiday.

Mr. Weasley gasped excitedly and ran over to the appliance, inspecting it thoroughly. “I have heard about these, but I’ve never actually seen one before. What does it do exactly?”

“Well,” said Gerda hesitantly. “It sucks up the dirt and dust from the carpet.”

Arthur Weasley’s eyes grew wide as saucers. “Good lord, does it really?”

Anna giggled at his enthusiasm and stood beside him. “Do you wanna see it go,” she asked.

“Can I?”

Anna grabbed a paperclip from a nearby table and dropped it on the floor. The redhead then bent down to plug the contraption into the socket before picking up the hose and flipping the switch. The contraption roared to life and both Mr. Weasley and Ginny jumped back in alarm. Anna tried not to laugh at their reactions as she moved it over the paperclip and laughed as Mr. Weasley cheered when it disappeared. Anna bowed low as if finishing a performance, before turning it off and putting it back against the wall.

“Fascinating. Simply fascinating,” Mr. Weasley breathed poking at the bag attached to the back.

“Why is it so angry,” Ginny asked, scowling at the hoover.

Kai laughed good-naturedly beside her. Never in all his life had heard such an accurate description of a vacuum cleaner - _angry._

“It’s just the motor, dear,” Gerda said gently. “It’s not angry.”

Mr. Weasley stood up. “You muggles never cease to amaze me, the way you’ve adapted to life without magic is just brilliant.”

Kai and Gerda smiled at the compliment and felt the tension that had filled the room moments ago evaporate.

“Well that was fun, but we really must be off. Molly will get worried if we are late,” Mr. Weasley said turning to his daughter. “Ginny you take some of Anna’s things and I will get her trunk.”

Ginny nodded before grabbing a book bag and tucking Anna’s Cleansweep under her arm.

“Be gentle with him, that’s fresh lacquer,” Anna said anxiously gesturing towards her most prized possession.

Ginny scoffed and raised an eyebrow. “ _Him?_ ”

“Yes him,” Anna said unfazed by Ginny’s obvious teasing. “And _he_ is sensitive, so be careful.”

Ginny just laughed again before taking a handful of powder from a pouch her father had produced from yet another pocket. Maneuvering her way back into the fireplace and being mindful of the guard, Ginny spun around to face the others. “ _The Burrow_!” she said speaking loud and clear before disappearing behind a wall of green flames.

“ _Locomotor trunk_ ,” Mr. Weasley said, pointing his wand at the heavy trunk that slowly floated up from the ground and moved next to the wizard. “I’ll let you say your goodbyes then.” Handing Anna the pouch of remaining Floo powder, he stepped across the hearth, the trunk following him dutifully, and nodded first to Kai, then to Gerda. “Always a pleasure Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, thank you for showing me your hoodlum,” he said as the fire engulfed him.

Anna ran toward her godparents and tried her best wrap her arms around both of them at the same time, though their size made it a little difficult. “See you at Christmas,” she said softly.

When she pulled away Gerda tucked a stray piece of hair behind the girl’s ear. “Be good while you are at school, I don’t want anymore letters from your teachers saying you were caught out of bed after curfew.”

Anna smirked at the memory. “What? You know I am a helpless slave to my stomach. The chocolate calls to me.”

“All the same, I packed a few sweets in your bag to help you manage your temptations,” her godmother said with a wink.

“Study hard, Button and don’t forget to write,” said Kai as he placed a tender kiss on the top of his youngest goddaughter’s strawberry locks.

“Promise.”

Picking up Olaf’s cage Anna made her way inside the fireplace. “Um… will you – er – say goodbye to Elsa for me,” she said timidly.

Both her godparent’s smiles wavered slightly.

“Of course, dear,” Gerda said tenderly.

She waved one last time before thrusting the powder at her feet. “ _The Burrow_.”

Anna couldn’t be sure, but she could have sworn she’d caught a glimpse of platinum blonde hair at the top of the stairs just before felt the familiar sensation of being sucked into a tornado.

She was probably just seeing things, but a girl could dream right?

When the spinning finally stopped Anna stood still for a few moments, waiting for her balance to return and the rushing in her ears to stop. When she felt as though she could once again walk a straight line Anna stepped out of the fireplace and into the familiar chaos she hoped was waiting for her.

Anna had visited the Burrow a few times before, spending the occasional weekend or holiday with the Weasleys, and she loved every inch of it. From the twisting, leaning house held up by magic and defying a number of physical laws to the chicken coop out back. It was everything she ever wanted; a warm, happy place full of life and filled with people. But as Anna looked around the Weasley’s kitchen she realized something was different. It was quiet.

Where was the sound of Mrs. Weasley scolding Fred and George for some silly prank they had pulled? Where was the sound of laughter and shouting coming from each of the five floors? Where was the smell of delicious food that filled the entire home while Molly Weasley cooked?

“Where is everyone?” Anna asked sounding a little disappointed.

“They aren’t here, “ Ginny said sitting on Anna’s trunk. “They’re waiting for us at Headquarters, Harry and Hermione too.”

“Headquarters?” Anna asked, confused. “Headquarters for what?”

“For-”

“Not here Ginny,” Mr. Weasley, interrupted gently. He gave Anna a reassuring smile. “We will explain everything once we get there.”

Anna nodded, feeling a thrill of excitement when she caught sight of Ginny’s own broom resting next to Anna’s, as well as a third broom she didn’t recognize. “Are we flying there?”

“You two will be, since you’re too young to Apparate and using the Floo network to get there would be too risky.”

“What about you?” Anna asked.

“I am likely to break my neck on a broomstick at the best of times,” Mr. Weasley chuckled. “I am going to Apparate and meet you both there.”

Anna grinned. “I guess it’s just you and me Gin, better not fall behind.”

“First of all, I would leave you in the dust,” Ginny said matter-of-factly. “Second, it’s not going to be just us. Tonks is coming too.”

“Tonks? Who’s…”

A loud crash in the next room caused all three of them to look in the direction of the living room. A woman with short, spikey bubble-gum pink hair stumbled into the room clutching a ball of yarn and looking over her shoulder at whatever had tripped her. Once she found her feet the woman flashed Mr. Weasley a guilty look.

“Sorry about that Arthur I was just getting this for Molly,” she said holding up the yarn before pulling out her wand. “I’ll fix it.”

The wizard shook his head. “Leave it Tonks it’s fine… but just to be safe let’s not tell Molly shall we.” He nudged Anna in front of him. “Tonks this is Ginny’s friend Anna Arendelle. Anna this is Nymphadora Tonks.”

Tonks made a face like she had just taken a bite out of a lemon and held out her hand. “Don’t used my real name, I hate it, just call me Tonks.”

Anna smiled brightly and shook the witch’s hand. “It _is_ a strange name. I mean, not like strange as in a bad strange. I mean it is just not a name one normally hears. Not that you’re abnormal,” Anna said hurriedly. “You don’t look abnormal, you look totally normal even though your hair is really pink. I’ve never seen hair _that_ pink before. But I mean that’s not a bad thing, I actually think it’s pretty cool, what I meant was it’s different. A good different.”

Ginny was doubled over in laughter and Tonks was looking at her with a mixture of amusement and surprise.

Anna blushed to her roots.

“Thank you… I think your hair is pretty neat too,” she replied amused by Anna’s rambling. “What made you go with white?” Tonks asked, pointing at the one strand of white hair amidst a sea of red that began near her right temple.

The streak had been there for as long as Anna could remember and she had no idea as to how she got it. Although, she did once have a dream in which a doctor told her she needed to paint her hair white in order to keep trolls away… whatever that meant. It tended to make her self-conscious; whenever she brought it up everyone in her family would start acting all weird, she could even vaguely recall an instance where she had asked Elsa if she liked it and her sister actually ran away from her.

The girl tucked her hair behind her ear sheepishly. “Oh that? I was born with it.”

Tonks nodded approvingly. 

“Okay now that everyone’s been introduced,” said Mr. Weasley. “Anna, Tonks is going to escort you both to headquarters.” He took ahold of one of the handles on Anna’s trunk. “Safe trip!” he said cheerfully, and with a loud _Crack,_ disappeared.

“I like your hair that colour Tonks,” Ginny said finally catching her breath now that she’d finished laughing.

“Thanks, I think I liked it longer though.” Tonks screwed up her face in concentration and suddenly her hair began to grow at an alarming rate until it reached just past her shoulders. “There, what’d you think?”

Anna’s eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open a bit. “How did you do that? That was awesome!”

Tonks shrugged. “I’m a Metamorphagus, so I can change my appearance whenever I want to.” She said picking up a spoon and examining her reflection.

“How do you become a Meta… Motomomof… Matomor… one of those,” Anna asked, still in awe.

Tonks smiled at Anna’s struggle. “Metamorphagus. And its something you are born as, not something you can become. Anyways, we can talk about that later, Molly will skin me alive if I’m late delivering you lot so lets get going.”

The two girls nodded before grabbing their brooms and following Tonks out into the garden. The sun was still setting when they left the house and Anna found she had to shield her eyes from the bright light.

Anna freed Olaf from his cage so that he could fly alongside them rather than remain inside the cage tied to Anna’s broom. He flew in circles around the three of them hooting gleefully and occasionally swooping down to pull at his owner’s hair.

“I think Olaf wants to go,” Anna giggled, playfully swatting at the bird.

“Aw he is such a sweet little guy,” Tonks said watching Olaf as he landed on Anna’s shoulder, rubbing his head against her cheek. “Why’s his beak so orange like that?”

Anna stroked the little owl’s soft gold and white feathers affectionately. “I’m not sure really, it’s just always been that way. I call it his little carrot nose, you know, like a snowman.”

“Well I think it’s cute,” said Tonks.

She tossed a leg over her broom and kicked off the ground, hovering just a few feet in the air, Anna and Ginny followed her lead.

“Ready?”

“Ready!” the girl’s exclaimed in unison.

Anna laughed out loud as they soared into the sky, wind tearing at her hair and clothing. They flew higher and higher until the Burrow was just a small dark spot far below and the countryside had turned into a patchwork of colour. Although the air was chilly where they flew Anna had never felt warmer as her heart filled to the brim with joy. Flying was the only time the girl was able to experience true freedom and it made her want to sing.

Xxx

“Okay, time to start the decent!” Tonk hollered over her shoulder. Behind her, Anna sighed with relief.

They had been flying for little over an hour and Anna felt as though she might never unfreeze her hands from her broom. They’d had to stay pretty high up for most of the trip so as prevent any muggles from spotting them, leaving Anna chilled to the bone.

When they finally touched down Anna examined her surroundings, night had fallen so she could see much beyond the light of the street lamp they were standing under. She didn’t know what she had been expecting, but it certainly wasn’t this. They were standing in a little square surrounded by a bunch of small rundown houses that looked less than welcoming and… what was that smell? Unkept lawns and dead bushes decorated the street and there seemed to be junk littered everywhere, Anna saw a little sign that read _Grimmauld Place._ She was suddenly she was very grateful Gerda wasn’t there; the woman would have had a heart attack seeing this mess.

“Anna come here,” Ginny whisper yelled.

The girl snapped out of her stupor and jogged over to where Tonks and Ginny were standing on the street between houses 10 and 13… wait what?

Before she ponder further as to which idiot was responsible for mis-numbering the houses Tonks handed her a small piece of paper.

“Read it, but not out loud and memorize it,” Tonks whispered sounding a bit nervous and occasionally glancing behind her.

Anna looked down at the small bit of parchment and had to pull it close to her face in order to read it due to the lack of light.

_The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London._

Anna looked up at the other two witches utterly confused.

“Did you memorize it?” Tonks asked.

Anna nodded. “Yes but-” Before she could finish the woman took back the paper and lit in on fire with her wand.

“Mad-Eye would have killed me if I forgot to do that again,” she chuckled somewhat darkly. “Alright let’s get inside before my fingers freeze off.”

“I hate to burst your bubble guys but there is no twe-”

Anna halted mid sentence, for the second she thought about what had been written on the parchment an old, rather dirty door suddenly appeared between houses 10 and 13. Walls expanded from both sides of door and slowly pushed aside the two houses flanking it. The muggles who lived inside must not have noticed or Anna was sure she would have heard screaming.

Tonks was the first to move as she climbed the worn down front steps while the two younger girls followed close behind. The witch pulled out her wand from her jacket and tapped the door once. As Anna listened to the metallic clicks of many locks opening she felt a little nervous, this place didn’t really seem very welcoming if the ugly black door was anything to go by, with its peeling paint and serpent doorknocker.

Suddenly the clicking stopped and the door creaked open.

The first thing Anna noticed when she stepped into the hallway was the smell – mostly because she couldn’t see more than three feet in front of her - it was a damp, moldy sort of smell, like the place hadn’t been lived in for a very long time. The second thing she noticed was the silence.

Without any warning whatsoever Tonks flicked her wand and lit a few gas lamps overhead and Anna had to blink a few times adjust.

They were standing in a very long, very gloomy looking hallway. The wallpaper was peeling off the walls or least from the portions of the wall she could actually see. The entirety of the hallway was covered in large portraits, or least they looked like they could have been portraits… at some point.

“Try not to make too much noise or you’ll wake her up,” Ginny whispered next to her.

“Wake _who_ up?” Anna asked. All this whispering was starting to freak her out. Where the hell were they, why where they acting like someone had just died, and was that a rat that just ran by!?

Ginny and Tonks shushed her and started walking towards the door at the end of the hallway. Puffing her cheeks in frustration Anna quickly followed them, not wanting to be left alone in this place, especially when she heard muttering coming from behind a curtain.

Practically shoving Ginny out of the way so that she could escape the hallway of nightmares Anna stumbled into a room that wasn’t much better, but considerably more well lit.

“Anna, dear!” called a familiar voice before Anna was engulfed in a tight hug and received a mouthful of red hair.

“Hello Mrs. Weasley,” Anna said brightly.

The older woman pulled back and looked her up and down. “So good to see you again, Anna.”

The girl could help but notice how much thinner Mrs. Weasley looked from the last time Anna had seen her. The woman had dark circles under her eyes and looked absolutely exhausted.

“Look at you shivering, come over to the fire, dear we’ve all been waiting for you,” she said warmly before turning her towards a large fireplace at the end of an even larger wooden table.

“Nice to see you too mum,” Ginny said sarcastically behind her mother.

“Of course I’m happy to see you too, Ginny dear,” Mrs. Weasley said ushering her forward too.

As Anna moved towards the inviting warmth she noticed there was a group of about six people already sitting nearby. She didn’t recognize all of them but there were at least three faces she definitely knew. “Harry, Hermione, Ron!” she exclaimed, running over.

Her three friends smiled at her and stood up so that she could give them each a hug.

“How have you been? Why haven’t you been writing? Jeez, Ron did you get taller? Have you seen Olaf at all, he flew off halfway through the trip. What is this place? It is really creepy don’t you think? Did you just get here too?”

Hermione laughed. “I see you haven’t changed much since we last saw you Anna.”

“Are you sure we can trust her, Molly she talks an awful lot,” a man on her right growled. He was considerably older, with long thinning grey hair and missing a good portion of his nose. But the most standout thing about the big man was his eyes; one was small and black and the other was an electric blue that was whizzing around in head, looking everywhere at once.

“P- Professor Moody?” Anna asked skeptically, eyeing her old Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

He nodded.

“Hey my record is clean,” Anna said. “Last year a lunatic Death Eater disguised as you tried to kill Harry… are we sure we can trust _you._ ” Everyone around them froze and looked at her in surprise.

His magical eye stopped its spinning and was now focused intently on her, making Anna feel a little naked under its scrutiny. “I like you,” he said giving Anna what could have either been a smile or a grimace, but she couldn’t be sure. 

Everyone visibly relaxed and Hermione sat Anna down at the table to introduce her to the other two men sitting at the table. “Well you have already met Professor Moody, Anna you remember Professor Lupin,” Hermione said indicating the man sitting on the other side of the table.

Anna nodded and waved at yet another previous Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. He was much younger than Mad-Eye, with short brown hair and his face was littered with an assortment of thin, white scars. Anna had been disappointed when left, he had been such a good teacher, but once Remus Lupin was revealed to be a werewolf, parents were uneasy about letting him teach their children.

“Hello, Professor,” Anna said.

“Hello, Anna,” he replied shaking her hand. “It’s good to see you again. Ginny tells me you are still doing quite well in my subject.”

Anna blushed. “Yea I guess. I mean I _was_ the only one in the class who was able to get Expelliarmus right, even Ginny couldn’t get it, but you know whatever.”

“Hey! I got pretty close,” Ginny huffed.

Ron snorted and Ginny glared.

“That’s pretty impressive, I don’t think you were able to get that one until fourth year eh Remus?” asked the man sitting next to Professor Lupin and the only one who Anna didn’t recognize.

Lupin rolled his eyes. “Yes I remember, Sirius. I also remember you trying to stun James before it backfired and you made a chair explode,” he chuckled.

“Wait, Sirius? As in Sirius Black, like Harry’s godfather Sirius Black?” Anna said excitedly.

“The one and only,” Sirius said with a grin.

“Seriously? No way! I’ve heard so much about you!” She suddenly sobered. “That must have been awful being in Azkaban for something you didn’t do.”

Sirius shrugged. “Wasn’t so bad, I’m actually thinking of going back next summer for vacation, the dementors are excellent company, a little too affectionate though,” he said giving her a wink.

Anna, Ginny, Ron and Harry laughed but Mrs. Weasley and Lupin didn’t look pleased.

Lupin turned to her once again. “So, Anna I imagine you have a lot of questions for us.”

Anna nodded. “Yea a lot actually, what is this place?”

“Its headquarters for the Order of the Pheonix,” Harry piped up. “A secret society Dumbledore made,” Anna could help but notice the bitter tone Harry used when he said Dumbeldore’s name, “of people who fought Voldemort last time.”

Everyone flinched at the mention of _that_ name and Mr. Weasley uttered a little squeak of fear. “Please don’t say his name, dear,” she pleaded wearily.

“Sorry.”

“And what exactly is going on with _him_?” Anna asked cautiously. Sirius opened his mouth to answer her but Mrs. Weasley cut him off.

“No! She is too young. You may have gotten your way in telling Harry and the others but I will not let you do it to her. She and Ginny are too young for this!” she said fiercely and Anna could tell they already had this argument before.

Anna sighed. “Fine, you don’t have to tell me everything but I need to know if Gerda and Kai are in danger. They’re muggles which makes Elsa and I blood traitors, and if I remember correctly You-Know-Who wasn’t too fond of stuff like that.” Anna said. “I need to keep my family safe.”

Mrs. Weasley sagged in defeat seemingly unable to come up with an argument for that. 

Remus looked at her with sympathy. “That’s part of the reason you are here, Anna. We know about your situation and we want to help you and your family… we owe it to your parents.”

Anna started in surprise. “Wait what? You knew my parents?”

Lupin nodded sadly. “They were once a part of the Order.”

“Good bloke your father,” Sirius said earnestly. “Idunn too. I was sorry when Dumbledore,” there was that tone again, “told me what happened.”

“But they lived in Norway during the war,” Anna pointed out.

“I’m not sure how or when Dumbledore got in contact with your parents but their work often had them staying here in Britain for long stretches of time,” Lupin explained. 

“Why didn’t I know about this? Is that why they were killed?” Anna asked sounding angry now, her voice rising in volume. “Because they were part of your little group? Why didn’t you protect them!?”

“Of course we tried to keep them safe,” Mad-Eye said, not unkindly. “The war was over and all of You-Know-Who’s followers had gone into hiding, their deaths were just as much of a shock to us as it was to you. They knew the risks, but they also knew how important their job was; they saved a lot of muggle lives during the war, including your godparents.”

Mrs. Weasley sat down next to Anna who now had tears in her eyes and took the girl’s small hands in her own. “They loved you very much Anna, you and your sister. Not a day went by they didn’t mention their little girls and how proud they were of you.”

Anna sniffed and wiped her eyes. “I know. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have gotten mad like that… it’s just hard sometimes. I miss them so much,” she said weakly.

“It’s alright, dear we understand,” said Mrs. Weasley.

The youngest Arendelle returned her attention to Lupin. “You’ll keep them safe won’t you?”

“Yes. We have guards keeping watch on your home and Arthur has agreed to keep the Anderson’s informed.”

Mrs. Weasley took that as her cue. “Alright that’s enough, time for bed. All of you,” she said pointedly to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. “Anna you’ll be staying in Ginny’s room.”

“Thank you,” Anna said to Lupin, Mad-Eye, and Sirius before standing up and following Ginny out of the room.

Anna's mind was reeling with all this new information; her parents had been part of a secret organization formed to fight against the most powerful dark wizard in documented history? She'd had no idea, it was like they had lived a double life. Did her godparents know too...did Elsa? _Elsa! I need to tell Elsa this, she'll want to know too. Maybe now she'll listen to what I have to say... maybe_.


End file.
